New Rick Priestley game - Beyond the Gates of Antares

[Hobbit]

Just spotted this:

http://darkspacecorp.com/

[Mr Brown]

I saw the blurb the other day.

Very little to go on for now unfortunately. Some great names in the biz onboard so expectations will be high. Also the knowledge that Warlord is behind it helps.

Really keen to get a bit more info and see what kind of prices they'll be looking for on Kickstarter so close after Christmas...

[Baconfat]

Cool idea, but wouldn't it be safer to let Mr Priestly do it himself.  Rules written wiki-style may be....I don't know. 

I hope it has the feel of Rogue Trader with his experience applied to the rules.  I don't like the hints of super marines and over the top shark jumping models.

But I'd be happy with Black Powder with laser guns!

[Hobbit]

BP with lasers would be good. I started to sketch out some stats for converting Traveller/Striker to a BP style format and I was happy that it could work. I've never (well not 100% true) played Rick's "other sci-fi game" but I do know some of the folks at Warlord and have met Rick a couple of times - I saw Beyond the Gates of Antares mentioned and thought it was worth sharing with folks.

The Wiki comment is interesting, but I believe that that is in essence how other games of the genre have been developed, just not quite so publicly and openly. To paraphrase Rick "people would turn up to Rogue Trader games with their latest D&D figures and we'd have to invent stats for them so they could play".

[Malebolgia]

Okay, somebody has been playing the Mass Effect series...

The imagery is clearly influenced by it and I LIKE IT A LOT
I love Mass Effect, so any game with some looks derived from it is interesting. And a Priestly game? Yes please! Can't wait to read more about this game.

Thanks for sharing!

[n815e]

Hmmm...  I could just keep posting game results to this without having ever actually played just to alter how the series progresses over time...

[tnjrp]

Seriously, Rouge Trader an awesome set of rules?!? Pigs arse they were. They were cumbersome clunky and a min/maxers paradise. The fluff on the other hand is solid gold. Its the weird fluff in the random generation tables and that sort of thing that is memorable about RT.

To be honest I think LAF's Matashaki writes better rules than Mr Preistly. I do grant Mr Preistly is a heavyweight in the industry and inspired tons of cool stuff and might be a swell chap to boot but I have seen better rules writers

Agreed on pretty much everything exepct RT fluff being "solid gold" and can't really comment on Matakishi's rules as I've never to my knowledge tried any. OTOH RT fluff was perhaps decent for the time but it was about a century ago...

What is interesting about this newfangled BtGoA thingy is not only that it makes so much about being crowdsourced but also that -- given Mr. Priestley's background at that company who own the trademark of the term "space marine", among other stuff -- is that this looks to be fairly hard posthuman scifi universe. It remains to be seen how much that shows in either the minis or the rules. The first actual alien mini shown (assuming it's not a maquette job) is certainly of the classic but st00pid "we don't need no armour or gunz" variety that would be at home in certain grimdark milleniums to come.

[palaeomerus]

40K started as a trashcan party after Warhammer took off. They poured a lot of stuff they liked into a big container, mixed it up, drank it, and passed it around.

Space Marine/Laser Burn + Tolkien (as filtered through D&D) + 2000 AD including Judge Dredd + Zoids toy parts + terminator(chaos android?) + Moorcock + a badly disguised D&D umber hulk + Dune + Slaan + heavy metal album covers + crow beak helmets + Aliens(genestealers) + piloted mecha, okay just don't make them too anime (dreadnaughts) medieval and classical history + Metal Hurlant + the Spanish Inquisition + whatever else.

It has since been revised into a more coherent theme but still shows its composite roots very clearly.

[beefcake]

I'll be really looking forward to seeing this Kickstarter. Sounds like an interesting interactive concept.

[tnjrp]

See n815e's comment above for pointers as to why all this interactivity stuff may turn about and bite good ole Ricky in the backside...

[Dr. The Viking]

Argh... this makes me sound so grumpy, but my initialt reaction to this topic was: So what!?!

Same as with that fantasy rules set that boasted Andy Chambers, Rick Priestley and Alessio Canamore.

If the author is the main attraction, the rules aren't worth reading! 


OK, but the stuff does look nice though. I just fail to get the whole bestselling author vibe. 

[Hobbit]

I mentioned it because I know some people who are literally in awe of the gentleman concerned. I've never really been all that much of a sci-fi gamer but I do very much like Black Powder and Hail Caesar and based on those rules I'd look at anything else that he has written. I look at it in the same way that I'd consider a novel by an author that I've previously rated and I'd watch a film by a director that I've rated. And in the same vein I wouldn't be afraid to say something was a great stinking pile of poop.

I suspect that there will be those who will buy into it because of the author, I suspect that there will be those who will reject it because of the author. I'll probably sit on the sidelines and observe from an accademic point of view!

[dijit]

Argh... this makes me sound so grumpy, but my initialt reaction to this topic was: So what!?!

Same as with that fantasy rules set that boasted Andy Chambers, Rick Priestley and Alessio Canamore.

If the author is the main attraction, the rules aren't worth reading! 


OK, but the stuff does look nice though. I just fail to get the whole bestselling author vibe. 

Ditto!

Give me something concrete to work with, what are the rule mechanisms, mini concepts, size/scale of game, show me excerpts from the rules, etc. That it's Rick Priestly, is fair enough (I like Rogue Trader), but him only doesn't sell it enough. I might be old fashioned, but I like to see what I'm buying or know the quality of other stuff they've done before I throw my money at something and risk being disappointed as has happened with other start ups. So I'll wait for the kickstarter to either give me more to work with or come and go so I can find out what the game is really like.

[Andy H]

Seriously, Rouge Trader an awesome set of rules?!? Pigs arse they were. They were cumbersome clunky and a min/maxers paradise.

Well, they were written to be run by a GM who would provide both armies and write the scenario - take that premise away and yes, they could get very silly 

[Andy H]

40K started as a trashcan party after Warhammer took off. They poured a lot of stuff they liked into a big container, mixed it up, drank it, and passed it around.

Space Marine/Laser Burn + Tolkien (as filtered through D&D) + 2000 AD including Judge Dredd + Zoids toy parts + terminator(chaos android?) + Moorcock + a badly disguised D&D umber hulk + Dune + Slaan + heavy metal album covers + crow beak helmets + Aliens(genestealers) + piloted mecha, okay just don't make them too anime (dreadnaughts) medieval and classical history + Metal Hurlant + the Spanish Inquisition + whatever else.

Absolutely the essence of old school sci-fi gaming! The limitations of the toy soldiers available were as much a driver as the imaginations of the writers and players, which is what I like most about it.